Sunday, August 24, 2014

America has been infected with racism for over 400 years. The problems created by this affliction just won't go away. This summer has been very volatile for African American men. Now some of them have become household names. Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and John Crawford are now added to the names of Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell and countless others of unarmed young men who have lost their lives.

Yet many in our nation are in total denial as St. Louis children's book illustrator and artist, Mary Engelbreit found out when she created her poster for the Michael Brown Jr Memorial Fund, and was met with a negative response. She was inspired by watching the news coverage of Michael Brown's death.
“I was just appalled and heartbroken,” she said. “The thing
that drove me to draw was seeing his mother and her face was devastating.
She was trying to get to him while he was lying on the street and of course
they couldn’t let her near him. I started crying. And I started drawing.”

“[T]hese events unfolding now in my hometown and across the
country, shining a light on the ugly racism that still runs rampant in our
country, made me think that maybe this drawing could help in some small way,”
she wrote on her Facebook. This drawing stood in contrast to the cute apple cheeked children that are her hallmark. When she posted her drawing on her Facebook, Engelbreit received a lot of support from her fans but also received more than her share of hate mail. However, the hate filled and offensive remarks did not discourage her.

She is now selling prints of her drawing, with proceeds from
the sales going to the Michael Brown Jr. Memorial Fund that was established
by Straub’s. Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, works at Straub’s. Visit Mary Engelbreit's website to support the foundation.